UC-NRLF 


AMERICAN 
POLITICAL 
CLASSICS 


JEFIs-ERSON 


J 


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http://www.archive.org/details/americanpoliticaOOsargrich 


To 

Miranda  Wilmatth  Lux, 
whose  sweet  nobility  of  character 
was  an  inspiration  to  all 
who  ^neip  her. 


THE  AMERICAN 
POLITICAL  CLASSICS 


JEFFERSON,  WASHINGTON 
and  LINCOLN 


Edited  by 

George  Clark  Sargent, 

for  the  use  of 

The  Lux  School  of  Industrial  Training, 

1920. 


Copyright,  1920, 

by 

The  Lux  School  of  Industrial  Training, 

San  Francisco,  Cal. 


Printed  by 
The  Recorder  Printing  and  Publishing  Co. 


AMERICAN  POUTICAL  CLASSICS 

The  American  Revolution  was  brought 
about  by  the  ambition  of  the  English  Parlia- 
ment to  make  itself  supreme  over  a  people 
who  were  not  represented  in  it.  As  Benja- 
min Franklin  expressed  it,  jthe  Parliament 
claimed  to  be  omnipotent  before  it  had  be- 
come omniscient.  It  started  in  a  revolt  against 
the  king's  officers,  but  it  was  Q)on  seen  that 
nothing  less  than  complete  independence 
could  make  the  colonists  safe.  When  this 
had  been  resolved  upon,  the  writing  of  the 
great  state  paper  by  which  it  was  proclaimed 
was  committed  to  Thomas  Jefferson.  It  is  as 
follows : 

Declaration  of  Independence. 

*When,  in  the  course  of  human  events,  it 
becomes  necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve 
the  political  bands  which  have  connected 
them  with  another,  and  to  assume,  among  the 

462766 


6    * '  - '  '  A'MfiMCAN-  PdOTICAL  CLASSICS 

powers  of  the  earth,  the  separate  and  equal 
station  to  which  the  laws  of  nature  and  of 
nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent  respect  to 
the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they 
should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them  to 
the  separation. 

^'Wt  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident, 
that  all  men  are  created  equal;  that  they  are 
endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  un- 
alienable rights;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  That, 
to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are  insti- 
tuted among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed ;  that,  when- 
ever any  form  of  government  becomes  destruc- 
tive to  these  ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people 
to  alter  or  to  abolish  it,  and  to  institute  a  new 
government,  laying  its  foundation  on  such 
principles,  and  organizing  its  powers  in  such 
form,  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to 
effect  their  safety  and  happiness." 

Then  follow  statements  as  to  the  orderly 
way  in  which  the  government  may  be 
changed,   after  which  eomes  an   indictment 


AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS  7 

of  the  King  of  England  for  his  many^^  acts 
of  oppression. 

After  seven  years  of  war,  the  colonists  made 
good  their  independence,  and  the  country 
has  since;  become  the  most  powerful  on  earth. 

The  growth  of  a  people  is  often  marked 
by  the  speeches  of  great  men.  Currents  of 
thought,  having  small  beginnings,  gather 
strength  until  all  think  alike,  but  in  a  crude 
and  ineffectual  way.  Then  comes  a  genius 
who  voices  the  dimly  felt  sentiment  of  the 
people.  When  he  has  spoken,  all  can  see, 
and  seeing,  believe  the  simple  truths  he 
utters.  It  is  like  a  confused  mass  which  sud- 
denly bursts  into  crystal  form, — clear,  beauti- 
ful and  sharply  defined.  Such  was  the  fare- 
well Address  of  Washington.  The  colonists, 
who  were  now  the  people  of  the  new  repub- 
lic, remembered  their  recent  trials,  vexations 
and  dangers,  so  that  when  he  spoke,  it  was 
as  if  light  had  come  out  of  darkness.  No 
true  American  can  read  his  noble  words 
without  being  elevated  to  a  higher  plane 
of   thought   and   citizenship.      So   true  was 


8  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

his  vision,  and  so  sound  his  advice,  that  his 
Farewell  Address  furnished  the  rule  of  con- 
duct of  this  country  for  a  century  after  he 
left  the  presidency.  The  address  is  as  fol- 
lows: 

Washington's  Farewell  Address. 

^Triends  and  Fellow-Citizens :  The  period 
for  a  new  election  of  a  citizen,  to  administer 
the  executive  government  of  the  United 
States,  being  not  far  distant,  and  the  time 
actually  arrived  when  your  thoughts  must 
be  employed  in  designating  the  person  who 
is  to  be  clothed  with  that  important  trust, 
it  appears  to  me  proper,  especially  as  it 
may  conduce  to  a  more  distinct  expression 
of  the  public  voice,  that  I  should  now 
apprise  you  of  the  resolution  I  have  formed, 
to  decline  being  considered  among,  the  num- 
ber of  those  out  of  whom  a  choice  is  to  be 
made. 

^^I  beg  you,  at  the  same  time,  to  do  me 
the  justice  to  be  assured  that  this  resolution 
has  not  been  taken  without  a  strict  regard 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  9 

to  all  the  considerations  appertaining  to  the 
relation  which  binds  a  dutiful  citizen  to  his 
country;  and  that,  in  withdrawing  the  tender 
of  service,  which  silence  in  my  situation 
might  imply,  I  am  influenced  by  no  diminu- 
tion of  zeal  for  your  future  interest;  no 
deficiency  of  grateful  respect  for  your  past 
kindness;  but  am  supported  by  a  full  convic- 
tion that  the  step  is  compatible  with  both. 
^^The  acceptance  of,  and  continuance 
hitherto  in,  the  office  to  which  your  suffrages 
have  twice  called  me,  have  been  a  uniform 
sacrifice  of  inclination  to  the  opinion  of  duty, 
and  to  a  deference  for  what  appeared  to  be 
your  desire.  I  constantly  hoped  that  it 
would  have  been  much  earlier  in  my  power, 
consistently  with  motives  which  I  was  not 
at  liberty  to  disregard,  to  return  to  that 
retirement  from  which  I  had  been  reluc- 
tantly drawn.  The  strength  of  my  inclina- 
tion to  do  this,  previous  to  the  last  election, 
had  even  led  to  the  preparation  of  an  address 
to  declare  it  to  you;  but  mature  reflection 
on  the  then  perplexed  and  critical  posture 


lO  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

of  our  afifairs  with  foreign  nations,  and  the 
unanimous  advice  of  persons  entitled  to  my 
confidence,  impelled  me  to  abandon  the  idea. 

"I  rejoice  that  the  state  of  your  concerns, 
external  as  well  as  internal,  no  longer  ren- 
ders the  pursuit  of  inclination  incompatible 
with  the  sentiment  of  duty  or  propriety; 
and  am  persuaded,  whatever  partiality  may 
be  retained  for  my  services,  that,  in  the 
present  circumstances  of  our  country,  you 
will  not  disapprove  my  determination  to 
retire. 

^^The  impressions  with  which  I  first  under- 
took the  arduous  trust  were  explained  on  the 
proper  occasion.  In  the  discharge  of  this 
trust  I  will  only  say  that  I  have  with  good 
intentions  contributed  towards  the  organiza- 
tion and  administration  of  the  government 
the  best  exertions  of  which  a  very  fallible 
judgment  was  capable.  Not  unconscious 
in  the  outset  of  the  inferiority  of  my  quali- 
fications, experience  in  my  own  eyes,  perhaps 
still  more  in  the  eyes  of  others,  has  strength- 
ened the  motives  to  diffidence  of  myself;  and 


AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS  II 

every  day  the  increasing  weight  of  years 
admonishes  me  more  and  more  that  the  shade 
of  retirement  is  as  necessary  to  me  as  it  will  be 
welcome.  Satisfied  that,  if  any  circumstances 
have  given  peculiar  value  to  my  services, 
they  were  temporary,  I  have  the  consolation 
to  believe  that,  while  choice  and  prudence 
invite  me  to  quit  the  political  scene,  patri- 
otism  does  not  forbid  it. 

^^In  looking  forward  to  the  moment  which 
is  intended  to  terminate  the  career  of  my 
public  life,  my  feelings  do  not  permit  me 
to  suspend  the  deep  acknowledgment  of  that 
debt  of  gratitude  which  I  owe  to  my  beloved 
country  for  the  many  honors  it  has  conferred 
upon  me;  still  more  for  the  steadfast  con- 
fidence with  which  it  has  supported  me;  and 
for  the  opportunities  I  have  thence  enjoyed 
of  manifesting  my  inviolable  attachment  by 
services  faithful  and  persevering,  though  in 
usefulness  unequal  to  my  zeal.  If  benefits 
have  resulted  to  our  country  from  these  serv- 
ices, let  it  always  be  remembered  to  your 
praise,  and  as  an  instructive  example  in  our 


12  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

annals,  that  under  circumstances  in  which 
the  passions,  agitated  in  every  direction,  were 
liable  to  mislead,  amidst  appearances  some- 
times dubious,  vicissitudes  of  fortune  often 
discouraging,  in  situations  in  which  not  un- 
frequently  want  of  success  has  countenanced 
the  spirit  of  criticism,  the  constancy  of  your 
support  was  the  essential  prop  of  the  efforts, 
and  the  guaranty  of  the  plans  by  which  they 
were  effected.  Profoundly  penetrated  with 
this  idea,  I  shall  carry  it  with  me  to  my 
grave,  as  a  strong  incitement  to  unceasing 
vows  that  Heaven  may  continue  to  you  the 
choicest  tokens  of  its  beneficence;  that  your 
union  and  brotherly  affection  may  be  per- 
petual; that  the  free  constitution,  which  is 
the  work  of  your  hands,  may  be  sacredly 
maintained;  that  its  administration  in  every 
department  may  be  stamped  with  wisdom 
and  virtue;  that,  in  fine,  the  happiness 
of  the  people  of  these  states,  under  the  aus- 
pices of  liberty,  may  be  made  complete,  by 
so  careful  a  preservation  and  so  prudent  a 
use  of  this  blessing,  as  will  acquire  to  them 


AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS  1 3 

the  glory  of  recommending  it  to  the  applause, 
the  affection,  and  the  adoption  of  every 
nation   which   is   yet   a   stranger   to   it. 

^^Here,  perhaps,  I  ought  to  stop.  But  a 
solicitude  for  your  welfare,  which  cannot  end 
but  with  my  life,  and  the  apprehension  of 
danger  natural  to  that  solicitude,  urge  me,  on 
an  occasion  like  the  present,  to  offer  to  your 
solemn  contemplation,  and  to  recommend  to 
your  frequent  review,  some  sentiments,  which 
are  the  result  of  much  reflection,  of  no  incon- 
siderable observation,  and  which  appear  to 
me  all-important  to  the  permanency  of  your 
felicity  as  a  people.  These  will  be  offered  to 
you  with  the  more  freedom,  as  you  can  only 
see  in  them  the  disinterested  warnings  of  a 
parting  friend,  who  can  possibly  have  no  per- 
sonal motive  to  bias  his  counsel.  Nor  can  I 
forget,  as  an  encouragement  to  it,  your  indul- 
gent reception  of  my  sentiments  on  a  former 
and  not  dissimilar  occasion.  Interwoven  as  is 
the  love  of  liberty  with  every  ligament  of 
your  heart,  no  recommendation  of  mine  is 
necessary  to  fortify  or  confirm  the  attachment. 


14  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

"The  unity  of  government,  which  consti- 
tutes you  one  people,  is  also  now  dear  to  you. 
It  is  justly  so;  for  it  is  a  main  pillar  in  the 
edifice  of  your  real  independence,  the  support 
of  your  tranquility  at  home,  your  peace 
abroad;  of  your  safety;  of  your  prosperity;  of 
that  very  liberty  which  you  so  highly  prize. 
But  as  it  is  easy  to  foresee  that  from  different 
causes  and  from  different  quarters  much 
pains  will  be  taken,  many  artifices  employed, 
to  weaken  in  your  minds  the  conviction  of 
this  truth;  as  this  is  the  point  in  your  politi- 
cal fortress  against  which  the  batteries  of  in- 
ternal and  external  enemies  will  be  most  con- 
stantly and  actively  (though  often  covertly 
and  insidiously)  directed,  it  is  of  infinite  mo- 
ment that  you  should  properly  estimate  the 
immense  value  of  your  national  union  to  your 
collective  and  individual  happiness;  that  you 
should  cherish  a  cordial,  habitual,  and  im- 
movable attachment  to  it;  accustoming  your- 
selves to  think  and  speak  of  it  as  of  the 
palladium  of  your  political  safety  and  pros- 
perity; watching  for    its    preservation    with 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  1 5 

jealous  anxiety;  discountenancing  whatever 
may  suggest  even  a  suspicion  that  it  can  in 
any  event  be  abandoned;  and  indignantly 
frowning  upon  the  first  dawning  of  every  at- 
tempt to  alienate  any  portion  of  our  country 
from  the  rest,  or  to  enfeeble  the  sacred  ties 
which  now  link  together  the  various  parts. 

^'For  this  you  have  every  inducement  of 
sympathy  and  interest.  Citizens,  by  birth  or 
choice,  of  a  common  country,  that  country 
has  a  right  to  concentrate  your  affections.  The 
name  of  America,  which  belongs  to  you,  in 
your  national  capacity,  must  always  exalt  the 
just  pride  of  patriotism,  more  than  any  ap- 
pellation derived  from  local  discriminations. 
With  slight  shades  of  difference,  you  have  the 
same  religion,  manners,  habits,  and  political 
principles.  You  have  in  a  common  cause 
fought  and  triumphed  together;  the  inde- 
pendence and  liberty  you  possess  are  the 
work  of  joint  counsels  and  joint  efforts,  of 
common  dangers,  sufferings  and  successes. 

^^But  these  considerations,  however  power- 
fully they  address  themselves  to  your  sensi- 


1 6  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

bility,  are  greatly  outweighed  by  those  which 
apply  more  immediately  to  your  interest. 
Here  every  portion  of  our  country  finds  the 
most  commanding  motives  for  carefully 
guarding  and  preserving  the  union  of  the 
whole. 

^^The  North,  in  an  unrestrained  intercourse 
with  the  South,  protected  by  the  equal  laws 
of  a  common  government,  finds  in  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  latter  great  additional  re- 
sources of  maritime  and  commercial  enter- 
prise and  precious  materials  of  manufactur- 
ing industry.  The  South,  in  the  same  inter- 
course, benefiting  by  the  agency  of  the  North, 
sees  its  agriculture  grow  and  its  commerce 
expand.  Turning  partly  into  its  own  chan- 
nels the  seamen  of  the  North,  it  finds  its  par- 
ticular navigation  invigorated;  and,  while  it 
contributes  in  different  ways  to  nourish  and 
increase  the  general  mass  of  the  national 
navigation,  it  looks  forward  to  the  protection 
of  a  maritime  strength,  to  which  itself  is  un- 
equally adapted.  The  East,  in  a  like  inter- 
course with  the  West,  already  finds,  and  in 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  1 7 

the  progressive  improvement  of  interior  com- 
munications by  land  and  water  will  more  and 
more  find,  a  valuable  vent  for  the  commodi- 
ties which  it  brings  from  abroad,  or  manu- 
factures at  home.  The  West  derives  from  the 
East  supplies  requisite  to  its  growth  and  com- 
fort; and,  what  is  perhaps  of  still  greater 
consequence,  it  must  of  necessity  owe  the  se- 
cure enjoyment  of  indispensable  outlets  for 
its  own  productions  to  the  weight,  influence, 
and  the  future  maritime  strength  of  the  At- 
lantic side  of  the  Union,  directed  by  an  in- 
dissoluble community  of  interest  as  one  na- 
tion. Any  other  tenure  by  which  the  West 
can  hold  this  essential  advantage,  whether 
derived  from  its  own  separate  strength  or 
from  an  apostate  and  unnatural  connection 
with  any  foreign  power,  must  be  intrinsically 
precarious. 

^While,  then,  every  part  of  our  country 
thus  feels  an  immediate  and  particular  in- 
terest in  union,  all  the  parts  combined  cannot 
fail  to  find  in  the  united  mass  of  means  and 
efforts  greater  strength,  greater  resource,  pro- 


1 8  AMERICAN  POLItlCAL  CLASSICS 

portionably  greater  security  from  external 
danger,  a  less  frequent  interruption  of  their 
peace  by  foreign  nations,  and,  what  is  of  in- 
estimable value,  they  must  derive  from  union 
an  exemption  from  those  broils  and  wars  be- 
tween themselves,  which  so  frequently  afflict 
neighboring  countries  not  tied  together  by  the 
same  governments,  which  their  own  rival- 
ships  alone  would  be  sufficient  to  produce,  but 
which  opposite  foreign  alliances,  attachments 
and  intrigues  would  stimulate  and  embitter. 
Hence,  likewise,  they  will  avoid  the  necessity 
of  those  overgrown  military  establishments 
which,  under  any  form  of  government,  are 
inauspicious  to  liberty,  and  which  are  to  be 
regarded  as  particularly  hostile  to  repub- 
lican liberty.  In  this  sense  it  is  that  your 
union  ought  to  be  considered  as  a  main  prop 
of  your  liberty,  and  that  the  love  of  the  one 
ought  to  endear  to  you  the  preservation  of 
the  other. 

^^These  considerations  speak  a  persuasive 
language  to  every  reflecting  and  virtuous 
mind,    and   exhibit   the   continuance   of    the 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  1 9 

union  as  a  primary  object  of  patriotic  desire. 
Is  there  a  doubt  whether  a  common  govern- 
ment can  embrace  so  large  a  sphere?  Let 
experience  solve  it.  To  listen  to  mere  spec- 
ulation in  such  a  case  were  criminal.  We 
are  authorized  to  hope  that  a  proper  organi- 
zation of  the  whole,  with  the  auxiliary- 
agency  of  governments  for  the  respective  sub- 
divisions, will  afford  a  happy  issue  to  the 
experiment.  It  is  well  worth  a  fair  and  full 
experiment.  With  such  powerful  and  obvi- 
ous motives  to  union,  affecting  all  parts  of 
our  country,  while  experience  shall  not  have 
demonstrated  its  impracticability,  there  will 
always  be  reason  to  distrust  the  patriotism 
of  those  who  in  any  quarter  may  endeavor  to 
weaken  its  bands. 

^^In  contemplating  the  causes  which  may 
disturb  our  union,  it  occurs  as  a  matter  of 
serious  concern,  that  any  ground  should  have 
been  furnished  for  characterizing  parties  by 
geographical  discriminations,  Northern  and 
Southern,  Atlantic  and  Western;  whence  de- 
signing men  may  endeavor  to  excite  a  belief 


20  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

that  there  is  a  real  difiference  of  local  interests 
and  views.  One  of  the  expedients  of  party 
to  acquire  influence,  within  particular  dis- 
tricts, is  to  misrepresent  the  opinions  and 
aims  of  other  districts.  You  cannot  shield 
yourselves  too  much  against  the  jealousies 
and  heart-burnings  which  spring  from  these 
misrepresentations;  they  tend  to  render  alien 
to  each  other  those  who  ought  to  be  bound 
together  by  faternal  affection.  The  inhabit- 
ants of  our  western  country  have  lately  had 
a  useful  lesson  on  this  head;  they  have  seen, 
in  the  negotiation  by  the  executive,  and  in 
the  unanimous  ratification  by  the  senate,  of 
the  treaty  with  Spain,  and  in  the  universal 
satisfaction  at  that  event  throughout  the 
United  States,  a  decisive  proof  how  unfound- 
ed were  the  suspicions  propagated  among 
them  of  a  policy  in  the  general  government 
and  in  the  Atlantic  States  unfriendly  to  their 
interests  in  regard  to  the  Mississippi;  they 
have  been  witnesses  to  the  formation  of  two 
treaties,  that  with  Great  Britain  and  that 
with  Spain,  which  secure  to  them  everything 


AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS  21 

they  could  desire,  in  respect  to  our  foreign 
relations,  towards  confirming  their  prosper- 
ity. Will  it  not  be  their  wisdom  to  rely  for 
the  preservation  of  these  advantages  on  the 
Union  by  which  they  were  procured?  Will 
they  not  henceforth  be  deaf  to  those  advisers, 
if  such  there  are,  who  would  sever  them  from 
their  brethren  and  connect  them  with  aliens? 
^^To  the  efficacy  permanency  of  your 
Union,  a  government  for  the  whole  is  indis- 
pensable. No  alliances,  however  strict,  be- 
tween the  parts  can  be  an  adequate  substi- 
tute; they  must  inevitably  experience  the  in- 
fractions and  interruptions  which  all  alliances 
in  all  times  have  experienced.  Sensible  of 
this  momentous  truth,  you  have  improved 
upon  your  first  essay,  by  the  adoption  of  a 
constitution  of  government  better  calculated 
than  your  former  for  an  intimate  union,  and 
for  the  efficacious  management  of  your  com- 
mon concerns.  This  Government,  the  off- 
spring of  our  own  choice,  uninfluenced  and 
unawed,  adopted  upon  full  investigation  and 
mature   deliberation,   completely   free   in   its 


22  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

principles,  in  the  distribution  of  its  powers, 
uniting  security  with  energy,  and  containing 
within  itself  a  provision  for  its  own  amend- 
ment, has  a  just  claim  to  your  confidence  and 
your  support.  Respect  for  its  authority,  com- 
pliance wuth  its  laws,  acquiescence  in  its 
measures,  are  duties  enjoined  by  the  funda- 
mental maxims  of  true  Liberty.  The  basis 
of  our  political  systems  is  the  right  of  the 
people  to  make  and  to  alter  their  constitu- 
tions of  government.  But  the  constitution 
which  at  any  time  exists,  till  changed  by  an 
explicit  and  authentic  act  of  the  whole  peo- 
ple, is  sacredly  obligatory  upon  all.  The 
very  idea  of  the  power  and  the  right  of  the 
people  to  establish  government  presupposes 
the  duty  of  every  individual  to  obey  the  es- 
tablished government. 

^^All  obstructions  to  the  execution  of  the 
Laws,  all  combinations  and  associations,  un- 
der whatever  plausible  character,  with  the 
real  design  to  direct,  control,  counteract,  or 
awe  the  regular  deliberation  and  action  of 
the  constituted  authorities,  are  destructive  of 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  23 

this  fundamental  principle,  and  of  fatal  tend- 
ency. They  serve  to  organize  faction,  to  give 
it  an  artificial  and  extraordinary  force;  to 
put  in  the  place  of  the  delegated  will  of  the 
nation,  the  will  of  a  party,  often  a  small  but 
artful  and  enterprising  minority  of  the  com- 
munity; and,  according  to  the  alternative 
triumphs  of  different  parties,  to  make  the 
public  administration  the  mirror  of  the  ill- 
concerted  and  incongruous  projects  of  fash- 
ion, rather  than  the  organs  of  consistent  and 
wholesome  plans  digested  by  common  coun- 
cils, and  modified  by  mutual  interests.  How- 
ever combinations  or  associations  of  the 
above  description  may  now  and  then  answer 
popular  ends,  they  are  likely,  in  the  course 
of  time  and  things,  to  become  potent  engines, 
by  which  cunning,  ambitious  and  unprinci- 
pled men  will  be  enabled  to  subvert  the 
power  of  the  people,  and  to  usurp  for  them- 
selves the  reins  of  government;  destroying 
afterwards  the  very  engines  which  have  lifted 
them  to  unjust  dominion. 


24  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

^Towards  the  preservation  of  your  gov- 
ernment, and  the  permanency  of  your  present 
happy  state,  it  is  requisite,  not  only  that  you 
steadily  discountenance  irregular  oppositions 
to  its  acknowledged  authority,  but  also  that 
you  resist  with  care  the  spirit  of  innovation 
upon  its  principles,  however  specious  the  pre- 
texts. One  method  of  assault  may  be  to  effect, 
in  the  forms  of  the  constitution,  alterations, 
which  will  impair  the  energy  of  the  system, 
and  thus  to  undermine  what  cannot  be  di- 
rectly overthrown.  In  all  the  changes  to 
which  you  may  be  invited,  remember  that 
time  and  habit  are  at  least  as  necessary  to 
fix  the  true  character  of  governments  as  of 
other  human  institutions;  that  experience  is 
the  surest  standard  by  which  to  test  the  real 
tendency  of  the  existing  constitution  of  a 
country;  that  facility  in  changes,  upon  the 
credit  of  mere  hypothesis  and  opinion,  ex- 
poses to  perpetual  change,  from  the  endless 
variety  of  hypothesis  and  opinion;  and  re- 
member, especially,  that,  for  the  efficient 
management  of  your  common  interests,  in  a 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  25 

country  so  extensive  as  ours,  a  government  of 
as  much  vigor  as  is  consistent  w^ith  the  per- 
fect security  of  liberty  is  indispensable.  Lib- 
erty itself  will  find  in  such  a  government, 
with  powers  properly  distributed  and  ad- 
justed, its  surest  guardian.  It  is,  indeed, 
little  else  than  a  name,  where  the  govern- 
ment is  too  feeble  to  withstand  the  enter- 
prises of  faction,  to  confine  each  member 
of  the  society  within  the  limits  prescribed 
by  the  laws,  and  to  maintain  all  in  the  se- 
cure and  tranquil  enjoyment  of  the  rights  of 
person  and  property. 

^^I  have  already  intimated  to  you  the  dan- 
ger of  parties  in  the  State,  with  particu- 
lar reference  to  the  founding  of  them  on 
geographical  discrimination.  Let  me  now 
take  a  more  comprehensive  view,  and  warn 
you  in  the  most  solemn  manner  against  the 
baneful  effects  of  the  spirit  of  party,  gen- 
erally. 

^This  spirit,  unfortunately,  is  inseparable 
from  our  nature,  having  its  root  in  the  strong- 
est passions  of  the  human  mind.     It  exists 


26  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

under  dififerent  shapes  in  all  governments, 
more  or  less  stifled,  controlled,  or  repressed; 
but  in  those  of  the  popular  form  it  is  seen  in 
its  greatest  rankness,  and  is  truly  their  worst 
enemy. 

^^The  alternate  domination  of  one  fac- 
tion over  another,  sharpened  by  the  spirit  of 
revenge,  natural  to  party  dissension,  v^hich 
in  dififerent  ages  and  countries  has  perpe- 
trated the  most  horrid  enormities,  is  itself  a 
frightful  despotism.  But  this  leads  at  length 
to  a  more  formal  and  permanent  despotism. 
The  disorders  and  miseries  which  result, 
gradually  incline  the  minds  of  men  to  seek 
security  and  repose  in  the  absolute  power  of 
an  individual;  and  sooner  or  later  the  chief 
of  some  prevailing  faction,  more  able  or 
more  fortunate  than  his  competitors,  turns 
this  disposition  to  the  purposes  of  his  own 
elevation,  on  the  ruins  of  public  liberty. 

^Without  looking  forward  to  an  extremity 
of  this  kind  (which  neverthless  ought  not  to 
be  entirely  out  of  sight),  the  common  and 
continued  mischiefs  of  the  spirit  of  party  are 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  27 

sufficient  to  make  it  the  interest  and  duty  of 
a  wise  people  to  discourage  and  restrain  it. 
I  ^^It  serves  always  to  distract  the  public 
councils  and  enfeeble  the  public  administra- 
tion. It  agitates  the  community  with  ill- 
founded  jealousies  and  false  alarms;  kindles 
the  animosity  of  one  part  against  another, 
foments  occasionally  riot  and  insurrection.  It 
opens  the  doors  to  foreign  influence  and 
corruption,  which  find  a  facilitated  access  to 
the  government  itself  through  the  channels  of 
party  passions.  Thus  the  policy  and  the  will 
of  one  country  are  subjected  to  the  policy  and 
will  of  another. 

"There  is  an  opinion  that  parties  in  free 
countries  are  useful  checks  upon  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  government,  and  serve  to  keep 
alive  the  spirit  of  liberty.  This  within  cer- 
tain limits  is  probably  true,  and  in  govern- 
ments of  a  monarchical  cast,  patriotism  may 
look  with  indulgence,  if  not  with  favor,  upon 
the  spirit  of  party.  But  in  those  of  the  popu- 
lar character,  in  governments  purely  elective, 
it  is  a  spirit  not  to  be  encouraged.     From 


28  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

their  natural  tendency,  it  is  certain  there  will 
always  be  enough  of  that  spirit  for  every 
salutory  purpose.  And  there  being  constant 
danger  of  excess,  the  efifort  ought  to  be,  by 
force  of  public  opinion  to  mitigate  and  as- 
suage it.  A  fire  not  to  be  quenched,  it  de- 
mands a  uniform  vigilance  to  prevent  its 
bursting  into  a  flame,  lest,  instead  of  warm- 
ing, it  should  consume. 

^^It  is  important,  likewise,  that  the 
habits  of  thinking  in  a  free  country  should 
inspire  caution,  in  those  intrusted  with  its 
administration,  to  confine  themselves  within 
their  respective  constitutional  spheres,  avoid- 
ing in  the  exercise  of  the  powers  of  one  de- 
partment to  encroach  upon  another.  The 
spirit  of  encroachment  tends  to  consolidate 
the  powers  of  all  the  departments  in  one,  and 
thus  to  create,  whatever  the  for  mof  govern- 
ment, a  real  despotism.  A  just  estimate  of 
that  love  of  power  and  proneness  to  abuse  it, 
which  predominates  in  the  human  heart,  is 
sufficient  to  satisfy  us  of  the  truth  of  this  posi- 
tion.    The  necessity  of  reciprocal  checks  in 


AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS  29 

the  exercise  of  political  power,  by  dividing 
and  distributing  it  into  different  depositories, 
and  constituting  each  the  guardian  of  the 
public  weal  against  invasions  by  the  others, 
has  been  evinced  by  experiments  ancient  and 
modern,  some  of  them  in  our  country  and 
under  our  own  eyes.  To  preserve  them  must 
be  as  necessary  as  to  institute  them.  If,  in 
the  opinion  of  the  people,  the  distribution  or 
,  modification  of  the  constitutional  powers  be 
^^Bin  any  particular  wrong,  let  it  be  corrected 
by  an  amendment  in  the  way  which  the  Con- 
stitution designates.  .  But  let  there  be  no 
change  by  usurpation;  for,  though  this,  in 
one  instance,  may  be  the  instrument  of  good, 
it  is  the  customary  weapon  by  which  free 
governments  are  destroyed.  The  precedent 
must  always  greatly  overbalance  in  perma- 
nent evil  any  partial  or  transient  benefit 
which  the  use  can  at  any  time  yield. 

^^Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which 
lead  to  political  prosperity,  religion  and 
morality  are  indispensable  supports.  In  vain 
would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of  patriot- 


30  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

ism,  who  should  labor  to  subvert  these  great 
pillars  of  human  happiness,  these  firmest 
props  of  the  duties  of  men  and  citizens.  The 
mere  politician  equally  with  the  pious  man 
ought  to  respect  and  to  cherish  them.  A  vol- 
ume could  not  trace  all  their  connections  with 
private  and  public  felicity.  Let  it  simply  be 
asked,  Where  is  the  security  for  property,  for 
reputation,  for  life,  if  the  sense  of  religious 
obligation  desert  the  oaths,  which  are  the  in- 
struments of  investigation  in  courts  of  jus- 
tice? And  let  us  with  caution  indulge  the 
supposition  that  morality  can  be  maintained 
without  religion.  Whatever  may  be  con- 
ceded to  the  influence  of  refined  education 
on  minds  of  peculiar  structure,  reason  and 
experience  both  forbid  us  to  expect  that  na- 
tional morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of 
religious  principle. 

*^It  is  substantially  true  that  virtue  or  mor- 
ality is  a  necessary  spring  of  popular  govern- 
ment. The  rule,  indeed  extends  with  more 
or  less  force  to  every  species  of  free  govern- 
ment.    Who,  that  is  a  sincere  friend  to  it, 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  3 1 

can  look  with  indifference  upon  attempts  to 
shake  the  foundation  of  the  fabric? 

^Tromote,  then,  as  an  object  of  primary 
importance,  institutions  for  the  general  diffu- 
sion of  knowledge.  In  proportion  as  the 
structure  of  a  government  gives  force  to 
public  opinion,  it  is  essential  that  public 
opinion  should  be  enlightened. 

^^As  a  very  important  source  of  strength 
and  security,  cherish  public  credit.  One 
method  of  preserving  it  is,  to  use  it  as  spar- 
ingly as  possible;  avoiding  occasions  of  ex- 
pense by  cultivating  peace,  but  remembering 
also  that  timely  disbursements  to  prepare  for 
danger  frequently  prevent  much  greater  dis- 
bursements to  repel  it;  avoiding  likewise  the 
accumulation  of  debt,  not  only  by  shunning 
occasions  of  expense,  but  by  vigorous  exer- 
tion in  time  of  peace  to  discharge  the  debts, 
which  unavoidable  wars  may  have  occa- 
sioned, not  ungenerously  throwing  upon  pos- 
terity the  burden  which  we  ourselves  ought 
to  bear.  The  execution  of  these  maxims  be- 
longs to  your  representatives,  but  it  is  neces- 


32  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

sary  that  public  opinion  should  co-operate. 
To  facilitate  to  them  the  performance  of 
their  duty  it  is  essential  that  you  should 
practically  bear  in  mind  that  towards  the 
payment  of  debts  there  must  be  revenue; 
that  to  have  revenue  there  must  be  taxes; 
that  no  taxes  can  be  devised  which  are  not 
more  or  less  inconvenient  and  unpleasant; 
that  the  intrinsic  embarrassment,  inseparable 
from  the  selection  of  the  proper  objects 
(which  is  always  a  choice  of  difficulties), 
ought  to  be  a  decisive  motive  for  a  candid 
construction  of  the  conduct  of  the  govern- 
ment in  making  it,  and  for  a  spirit  of  acqui- 
escence in  the  measures  for  obtaining  revenue 
which  the  public  exigencies  may  at  any  time 
dictate. 

^^Observe  good  faith  and  justice  towards 
all  nations;  cultivate  peace  and  harmony 
with  all.  Religion  and  morality  enjoin  this 
conduct;  and  can  it  be  that  good  policy 
does  not  equally  enjoin  it?  It  will  be  worthy 
of  a  free,  enlightened,  and  at  no  distant 
period  a  great  nation,  to  give  to  mankind  the 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  33 

magnanimous  and  too  novel  example  of  a 
people  always  guided  by  an  exalted  justice 
and  benevolence.  Who  can  doubt  that  in  the 
course  of  time  and  things,  the  fruits  of  such 
a  plan  would  richly  repay  any  temporary 
advantages,  which  might  be  lost  by  a  steady 
adherence  to  it?  Can  it  be  that  Providence 
has  not  connected  the  permanent  felicity  of 
a  nation  with  its  virtue?  The  experiment,  at 
least,  is  recommended  by  every  sentiment 
which  ennobles  human  nature.  Alas!  is  it 
rendered  impossible  by  its  vices? 

^^In  the  execution  of  such  a  plan,  nothing 
is  more  essential  than  that  permanent,  invet- 
erate antipathies  against  particular  nations, 
and  passionate  attachments  for  others,  should 
be  excluded;  and  that,  in  place  of  them,  just 
and  amicable  feelings  towards  all  should  be 
cultivated.  The  nation  which  indulges  to- 
wards another  an  habitual  hatred,  or  an  habit- 
ual fondness,  is  in  some  degree  a  slave.  It  is  a 
slave  to  its  animosity  or  to  its  affection,  either 
of  which  is  sufficient  to  lead  it  astray  from 
its  duty  and  its  interest.     Antipathy  in  one 


34  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

nation  against  another  disposes  each  more 
readily  to  offer  insult  and  injury,  to  lay  hold 
of  slight  causes  of  umbrage,  and  to  be 
haughty  and  intractable  when  accidental  or 
trifling  occasions  of  dispute  occur.  Hence, 
frequent  collisions,  obstinate,  envenomed,  and 
bloody  contests.  The  nation,  prompted  by 
ill-will  and  resentment,  sometimes  impels  to 
war  the  government,  contrary  to  the  best  cal- 
culations of  policy.  The  government  some- 
times participates  in  the  national  propensity, 
and  adopts  through  passion  what  reason 
would  reject;  at  other  times,  it  makes  the 
animosity  of  the  nation  subservient  to  pro- 
jects of  hostility  instigated  by  pride,  ambi- 
tion, and  other  sinister  and  pernicious  mo- 
tives. The  peace  often,  sometimes  perhaps 
the  liberty,  of  nations  has  been  the  victim. 

^^So  likewise,  a  passionate  attachment  of 
one  nation  for  another  produces  a  variety  of 
evils.  Sympathy  for  the  favorite  nation,  fa- 
cilitating the  illusion  of  an  imaginary  com- 
mon interest  in  cases  where  no  real  common 
interest  exists,  and  infusing  into  one  the  en- 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  35 

mities  of  the  other,  betrays  the  former  into  a 
participation  in  the  quarrels  and  wars  of  the 
latter,  without  adequate  inducement  or  justi- 
fication. It  leads  also  to  concessions  to  the 
favorite  nation  of  privileges  denied  to  others, 
which  is  apt  doubly  to  injure  the  nation  mak- 
ing the  concessions,  by  unnecessarily  parting 
with  what  ought  to  have  been  retained,  and 
by  exciting  jealousy,  ill-will,  and  a  disposi- 
tion to  retaliate,  in  the  parties  from  whom 
equal  privileges  are  withheld.  And  it  gives 
to  ambitious,  corrupted,  or  deluded  citizens 
(who  devote  themselves  to  the  favorite  na- 
tion), facility  to  betray  or  sacrifice  the  inter- 
ests of  their  own  country,  without  odium, 
sometimes  even  with  popularity;  gilding  with 
the  appearances  of  a  virtuous  sense  of  obliga- 
tion, a  commendable  deference  for  public 
opinion,  or  a  laudable  zeal  for  public  good, 
the  base  or  foolish  compliances  of  ambition, 
corruption,  or  infatuation. 

"As  avenues  to  foreign  influence  in  innum- 
erable ways  such  attachments  are  particularly 
alarming  to  the  truly  enlightened  and  inde- 


36  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

pendent  patriot.  How  many  opportunities  do 
they  afford  to  tamper  with  domestic  factions, 
to  practise  the  arts  of  seduction,  to  mislead 
public  opinion,  to  influence  or  awe  public 
councils!  Such  an  attachment  of  a  small  or 
weak,  towards  a  great  and  powerful  nation, 
dooms  the  former  to  be  the  satellite  of  the 
latter. 

^^Against  the  insidious  wiles  of  foreign  in- 
fluence (I  conjure  you  to  believe  me,  fellow- 
citizens),  the  jealousy  of  a  free  people  ought 
to  be  constantly  awake,  since  history  and  ex- 
perience prove  that  foreign  influence  is  one 
of  the  most  baneful  foes  of  republican  gov- 
ernment. But  that  jealousy,  to  be  useful,  must 
be  impartial;  else  it  becomes  the  instrument 
of  the  very  influence  to  be  avoided,  instead  of 
a  defence  against  it.  Excessive  partiality  for 
one  foreign  nation,  and  excessive  dislike  for 
another,  cause  those  whom  they  actuate  to 
see  danger  only  on  one  side,  and  serve  to 
veil  and  even  second  the  arts  of  influence 
on  the  other.  Real  patriots  who  may  resist 
the  intrigues  of  the  favorite,  are  liable  to  be- 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  37 

come  suspected  and  odious;  while  its  tools 
and  dupes  usurp  the  applause  and  confidence 
of  the  people,  to  surrender  their  interests. 

*The  great  rule  of  conduct  for  us,  in  re- 
gard to  foreign  nations,  is,  in  extending  our 
commercial  relations,  to  have  with  them  as 
little  political  connection  as  possible.  So  far 
as  we  have  already  formed  engagements,  let 
them  be  fulfilled  with  perfect  good  faith. 
Here  let  us  stop. 

^^Europe  has  a  set  of  primary  interests, 
which  to  us  have  none,  or  a  very  remote  re- 
lation. Hence  she  must  be  engaged  in  fre- 
quent controversies,  the  causes  of  which  are 
essentially  foreign  to  our  concerns.  Hence, 
therefore,  it  must  be  unwise  in  us  to  implicate 
ourselves,  by  artificial  ties,  in  the  ordinary 
vicissitudes  of  her  politics,  or  the  ordinary 
combinations  and  collisions  of  her  friend- 
ships or  enmities. 

*^Our  detached  and  distant  situation  invites 
and  enables  us  to  pursue  a  different  course. 
If  we  remain  one  people,  under  an  efficient 
government,  the  period  is  not  far  off  when 


38  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

we  may  defy  material  injury  from  external 
annoyance;  when  we  may  take  such  an  atti- 
tude as  will  cause  the  neutrality,  we  may  at 
any  time  resolve  upon,  to  be  scrupulously 
respected;  when  belligerent  nations,  under  the 
impossibility  of  making  acquisitions  upon  us, 
will  not  lightly  hazard  the  giving  us  provo- 
cation ;  when  we  may  choose  peace  or  war,  as 
our  interest,  guided  by  justice,  shall  counsel. 

^^Why  forego  the  advantages  of  so  peculiar 
a  situation?  Why  quit  our  own  to  stand  upon 
foreign  ground?  Why,  by  interweaving  our 
destiny  with  that  of  any  part  of  Europe,  en- 
tangle our  peace  and  prosperity  in  the  toils 
of  European  ambition,  rivalship,  interest, 
humor,  or  caprice? 

^^It  is  our  true  policy  to  steer  clear  of  per- 
manent alliances  with  any  portion  of  the  for- 
eign world;  so  far,  I  mean,  as  we  are  now  at 
liberty  to  do  it;  for  let  me  not  be  understood 
as  capable  of  patronizing  infidelity  to  existing 
engagements.  I  hold  the  maxim  no  less  ap- 
plicable to  public  than  to  private  affairs,  that 
honesty  is  always  the  best  policy.   I  repeat  it. 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  39 

therefore,  let  those  engagements  be  observed 
in  their  genuine  sense.  But,  in  my  opinion,  it 
is  unnecessary  and  would  be  unwise  to  extend 
them. 

^Taking  care  always  to  keep  ourselves,  by 
suitable  establishments,  on  a  respectable  de- 
fensive posture,  we  may  safely  trust  to  tem- 
porary alliances  for  extraordinary  emergen- 
cies. 

^^Harmony,  liberal  intercourse  with  all  na- 
tions, are  recommended  by  policy,  humanity, 
and  interest.  But  even  our  commercial  policy 
should  hold  an  equal  and  impartial  hand; 
neither  seeking  nor  granting  exclusive  favors 
or  preferences;  consulting  the  natural  course 
of  things ;  diffusing  and  diversifying  by  gentle 
means  the  streams  of  commerce,  but  forcing 
nothing;  establishing  with  powers  so  dis- 
posed, in  order  to  give  trade  a  stable  course, 
to  define  the  rights  of  our  merchants,  and  to 
enable  the  government  to  support  them,  con- 
ventional rules  of  intercourse,  the  best  that 
present  circumstances  and  mutual  opinion 
will  permit,  but  temporary,  and  liable  to  be 


40  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

from  time  to  time  abandoned  or  varied,  as 
experience  and  circumstances  shall  dictate; 
constantly  keeping  in  view,  that  it  is  folly  in 
one  nation  to  look  for  disinterested  favors 
from  another;  that  it  must  pay  with  a  por- 
tion of  its  independence  for  whatever  it  may 
accept  under  that  character;  that,  by  such 
acceptance,  it  may  place  itself  in  the  condi- 
tion of  having  given  equivalents  for  nominal 
favors,  and  yet  of  being  reproached  with  in- 
gratitude for  not  giving  more.  There  can  be 
no  greater  error  than  to  expect  or  calculate 
upon  real  favors  from  nation  to  nation.  It  is 
an  illusion,  which  experience  must  cure, 
which  a  just  pride  ought  to  discard. 

^*In  offering  to  you,  my  countrymen,  these 
counsels  of  an  old  and  affectionate  friend,  I 
dare  not  hope  they  will  make  the  strong  and 
lasting  impression  I  could  wish;  that  they 
will  control  the  usual  current  of  the  passions, 
or  prevent  our  nation  from  running  the  course 
which  has  hitherto  marked  the  destiny  of  na- 
tions. But,  if  I  may  even  flatter  myself  that 
they  may  be  productive  of  some  partial  bene- 


AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS  4 1 

fit,  some  occasional  good;  that  they  may  now 
and  then  recur  to  moderate  the  fury  of  party 
spirit,  to  warn  against  the  mischiefs  of  for- 
eign intrigue,  to  guard  against  the  impostures 
of  pretended  patriotism;  this  hope  will  be  a 
full  recompense  for  the  solicitude  for  your 
welfare,  by  which  they  have  been  dictated. 

^^How  far  in  the  discharge  of  my  official 
duties  I  have  been  guided  by  the  principles 
which  have  been  delineated,  the  public  rec- 
ords and  other  evidences  of  my  conduct  must 
witness  to  you  and  to  the  world.  To  myself, 
the  assurance  of  my  own  conscience  is,  that 
I  have  at  least  believed  myself  to  be  guided 
by  them. 

^^In  relation  to  the  still  subsisting  war  in 
Europe,  my  proclamation  of  the  22d  of 
April,  1793,  is  the  index  of  my  plan.  Sanc- 
tioned by  your  approving  voice,  and  by  that 
of  your  Representatives  in  both  Houses  of 
Congress,  the  spirit  of  that  measure  has  con- 
tinually governed  me,  uninfluenced  by  any 
attempts  to  deter  or  divert  me  from  it. 


42  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

^^After  deliberate  examination,  with  the  aid 
of  the  best  lights  I  could  obtain,  I  was  well 
satisfied  that  our  country,  under  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  the  case,  had  a  right  to  take, 
and  was  bound  in  duty  and  interest  to  take,  a 
neutral  position.  Having  taken  it,  I  determ- 
ined, as  far  as  should  depend  upon  me,  to 
maintain  it,  with  moderation,  perseverance 
and  firmness. 

^The  considerations  which  respect  the 
right  to  hold  this  conduct,  it  is  not  necessary 
on  this  occasion  to  detail.  I  will  only  ob- 
serve, that,  according  to  my  understanding  of 
the  matter,  that  right,  so  far  from  being  de- 
nied by  any  of  the  belligerent  powers,  has 
been  virtually  admitted  by  all. 

^The  duty  of  holding  a  neutral  conduct 
may  be  inferred,  without  anything  more, 
from  the  obligation  which  justice  and  hu- 
manity impose  on  every  nation,  in  cases  in 
which  it  is  free  to  act,  to  maintain  inviolate 
the  relations  of  peace  and  amity  towards 
other  nations. 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  43 

^The  inducements  of  interest  for  observing 
that  conduct  will  best  be  referred  to  your 
own  reflections  and  experience.  With  me  a 
predominant  motive  has  been  to  endeavor  to 
gain  time  to  our  country  to  settle  and  mature 
its  yet  recent  institutions,  and  to  progress 
without  interruption  to  that  degree  of  strength 
and  consistency  which  is  necessary  to  give  it, 
humanly  speaking,  the  command  of  its  own 
fortunes. 

^^Though,  in  reviewing  the  incidents  of  my 
administration,  I  am  unconscious  of  inten- 
tional error,  I  am  nevertheless  too  sensible 
of  my  defects  not  to  think  it  probable  that  I 
may  have  committed  many  errors.  Whatever 
they  may  be,  I  fervently  beseech  the  Al- 
mighty to  avert  or  mitigate  the  evils  to  which 
they  may  tend.  I  shall  also  carry  with  me 
the  hope  that  my  country  will  never  cease  to 
view  them  with  indulgence;  and  that,  after 
forty-five  years  of  my  life  dedicated  to  its 
service  with  an  upright  zeal,  the  faults  of 
incompetent   abilities   will    be    consigned    to 


44  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

oblivion,  as  myself  must  soon  be  to  the  man- 
sions of  rest. 

^^Relying  on  its  kindness  in  this  as  in  other 
things,  and  actuated  by  that  fervent  love  to- 
v^ards  it,  which  is  so  natural  to  a  man  who 
views  in  it  the  native  soil  of  himself  and  his 
progenitors  for  several  generations,  I  antici- 
pate with  pleasing  expectation  that  retreat  in 
which  I  promise  myself  to  realize,  without 
alloy,  the  sweet  enjoyment  of  partaking,  in 
the  midst  of  my  fellow-citizens,  the  benign 
influence  of  good  laws  under  a  free  govern- 
ment, the  ever  favorite  object  of  my  heart, 
and  the  happy  reward,  as  I  trust,  of  our  mu- 
tual cares,  labors,  and  dangers. 

^'George  Washington.'' 

A  singular  story  has  arisen  to  the  effect  that 
the  foregoing  address  was  written  by  Alexan- 
der Hamilton,  and  merely  delivered  by 
Washington.  In  1841,  Professor  McVickar, 
of  Columbia  College,  called  upon  John  Jay, 
the  first  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States,  and  asked  him  about 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  45 

the  story.  Jay  replied  that  Washington  had 
submitted  the  address  to  Hamilton  and  him- 
self for  suggestions;  and  that  ^^not  wishing 
to  spoil  Washington's  fair  manuscript,  they 
had  made  their  notes  (only  a  few)  on  a 
copy  which  was  made  by  Hamilton  for  the 
purpose.  Jay  concluded  thus:  ^^My  opinion, 
my  dear  sir;  you  shall  freely  have.  I  have  al- 
ways thought  General  Washington  compe- 
tent to  write  his  own  addresses." 

The  personality  of  Washington  does  not 
suffer  with  the  lapse  of  time.  He  is  like  a 
great  mountain,  which  grows  higher  and 
higher,  and  broader  and  broader,  as  one  puts 
mile  after  mile  between  one's  self  and  its  base. 
The  forests  and  foothills  which  hide  its  top 
on  nearer  view,  melt  and  sink  into  the  general 
mass,  until  nothing  is  left  but  one  great 
towering,  majestic  peak,  crowned  with  eter- 
nal snows,  which  so  dominates  the  scene  that 
one  can  neither  think  of,  nor  look  at  any- 
thing else.  Such  was  Washington.  The  men 
of  his  time  who  fought  and  struggled  and 
schemed  and  hoped  and  feared,  have  sunk 


46  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

into  the  oblivion,  from  which  they  came ;  and 
the  few  really  great  names  left  serve  only  to 
make  manifest  the  greater  greatness  of  Wash- 
ington himself.  He  is  a  colossal  figure  in 
the  history  of  his  country.  He  is  a  colossal 
figure  in  the  history  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race; 
a  colossal  figure  in  the  history  of  the  world. 

Lecky,  the  great  English  historian,  says  of 
Washington : 

^^In  civil  as  in  military  life  he  was  pre- 
eminent among  his  contemporaries  for  the 
clearness  and  soundness  of  his  judgment,  for 
his  perfect  moderation  and  self-control,  for 
the  quiet  dignity  and  the  indomitable  firm- 
ness with  which  he  pursued  every  path  which 
he  had  deliberately  chosen.  Of  all  the  great 
men  in  history,  he  was  the  most  invariably 
judicious,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  rash  word 
or  action  recorded  of  him." 

Washington  entered  upon  his  first  term  as 
the  head  of  a  people  who  were  far  from  be- 
ing united.  The  country  was  an  aggregation 
of  thirteen  jealous,  and  more  or  less  selfish 
states.      The     forces    of     disruption, — what 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  47 

might  be  called  the  centrifugal  tendencies — 
nearly  balanced  those  which  held  us  together. 
He  strove  to  make  us  really  a  nation.  The 
work  he  started  went  forward  slowly  at  first, 
and  for  many  years  thereafter;  but  the  great 
Civil  War  of  1861  showed  that  it  was  nearly 
done.  Our  grandfathers  had  come  to  love 
the  Constitution  with  a  feeling  which 
amounted  almost  to  religious  devotion.  Lin- 
coln voiced  the  feeling  of  the  North  when  he 
said  it  was  his  duty  to  save  the  Union;  that 
he  would  save  it  either  with  slavery  or  with- 
out slavery,  as  he  might,  but  that  he  would 
save  the  Union.  Then  came  the  long,  heart- 
rending strain  of  war;  disaster  after  disaster, 
[and  victory  at  last  in  the  West,  where  Grant 
captured  Vicksburg,  and  in  the  East,  where 
the  Confederacy  went  down  in  irretrievable 
ruin  at  Gettysburg,  both  on  the  same  day. 
The  Emancipation  Proclamation  soon  fol- 
lowed. It  was  at  Gettysburg  that  Lincoln 
delivered  his  greatest  speech.  Never  has  so 
much  been  said  in  so  few  words.  It  is  as 
follows : 


48        american  political  classics 

The  Gettysburg  Speech. 

'Tourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers 
brought  forth  on  this  continent  a  new  nation, 
conceived  in  liberty,  and  dedicated  to  the 
proposition  that  all  men  are  created  equal. 

^^Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  civil  war, 
testing  wliether  that  nation,  or  any  nation  so 
conceived  and  so  dedicated,  can  long  endure. 
We  are  met  on  a  great  battlefield  of  that  war. 
We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of  that 
field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who 
here  gave  their  lives  that  that  nation  might 
live.  It  is  altogether  fitting  and  proper  that 
we  should  do  this. 

*^But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate 
— we  cannot  consecrate — we  canhbt  hallow—' 

this  ground.  The  brave  men,  living  and 
dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  consecrated 
it  far  above  our  poor  power  to  add  or  de- 
tract. The  world  will  little  note  nor  long 
remember  what  we  say  here,  but  it  can  never 
forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for  us,  the 
living,   rather,   to  be   dedicated  here   to   the 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  49 

unfinished  work  which  they  who  fought  here 
have  thus  far  so  nobly  advanced.  It  is  rather 
for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the  great  task 
remaining  before  us — that  from  these  honored 
dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that 
cause  for  which  they  gave  the  last  full  meas- 
ure of  devotion ;  that  we  here  highly  resolve 
that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain; 
that  this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new 
birth  of  freedom;  and  that  government  of  the 
people,  by  the  people,  for  the  people,  shall  not 
perish  from  the  earth." 

It  is  related  that  after  Lincoln  had  ceased 
to  speak  perfect  silence  reigned.  Not  a 
sound  came  from  the  great  audience.  Sick 
at  heart,  he  returned  to  Washington.  He  felt 
that  he  had  not  touched  his  hearers  with  the 
fire  of  patriotism  which  burned  within  him. 
But  the  next  day  came  a  letter  of  warm  com- 
mendation from  Edward  Everett,  to  which 
Lincoln  replied  that  he  was  happy  to  know 
that  his  address  '^was  not  entirely  a  failure." 
Then  came  a  flood  of  letters  and  a  chorus  of 
enthusiastic  praise  from  the  press,  and  Lin- 


50  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

coin  knew  that  he  had  made  one  of  the 
speeches  of  all  ages.  The  mystery  was  solved. 
He  had  found  the  very  heart  of  his  audience. 
Awe-struck,  they  had  heard  the  words  of  one 
inspired.    Applause  seemed  sacrilege. 

But  the  weary  war  went  on.  The  Confed- 
eracy had  been  mortally  wounded  at  Vicks- 
burg  and  Gettysburg — the  end  was  certain, 
but  much  hard  fighting  remained.  In  1864 
Lincoln  came  up  for  re-election,  and  carried 
all  before  him.  It  was  upon  March  4th  of 
the  following  year  that  he  delivered  another 
masterpiece.    It  was 

Lincoln's  Second  Inaugural. 

He  said: 

"Fellow-countrymen:  At  this  second  ap- 
pearing to  take  the  oath  of  the  presidential 
office,  there  is  less  occasion  for  an  extended 
address  than  there  was  at  the  first.  Then  a 
statement,  somewhat  in  detail,  of  a  course  to 
be  pursued,  seemed  fitting  and  proper.  Now, 
at  the  expiration  of  four  years,  during  which 
public    declarations    have    been    constantly 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  5 1 

called  forth  on  every  point  and  phase  of  the 
great  contest  which  still  absorbs  the  attention 
and  engrosses  the  energies  of  the  nation,  little 
that  is  new  could  be  presented.  The  progress 
of  our  arms,  upon  which  all  else  chiefly  de- 
pends, is  as  well  known  to  the  public  as  to 
myself;  and  it  is,  I  trust,  reasonably  satis- 
factory and  encouraging  to  all.  With  high 
hope  for  the  future,  no  prediction  in  regard 
to  it  is  ventured. 

^^On  the  occasion,  corresponding  to  this, 
four  years  ago,  all  thoughts  were  anxiously 
directed  to  an  impending  civil  war.  All 
dreaded  it,  all  sought  to  avert  it.  While  the 
inaugural  address  was  being  delivered  from 
this  place,  devoted  altogether  to  saving  the 
Union  without  war,  insurgent  agents  were  in 
the  city  seeking  to  destroy  it  without  war — 
seeking  to  dissolve  the  Union,  and  divide  ef- 
fects, by  negotiation.  Both  parties  deprecated 
war;  but  one  of  them  would  make  war  rather 
than  let  the  nation  survive;  and  the  other 
would  accept  war  rather  than  let  it  perish. 
And  the  war  came. 


52  AMERICAN   POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

^^One-eighth  of  the  whole  population  were 
colored  slaves,  not  distributed  generally  over 
the  Union,  but  localized  in  the  southern  part 
of  it.  These  slaves  constituted  a  peculiar  and 
powerful  interest.  All  knew  that  this  inter- 
est was,  somehow,  the  cause  of  the  war.  To 
strengthen,  perpetuate,  and  extend  this  inter- 
est was  the  object  for  which  the  insurgents 
would  rend  the  Union,  even  by  war;  while 
the  government  claimed  no  right  to  do  more 
than  to  restrict  the  territorial  enlargement  of 
it. 

^^Neither  party  expected  for  the  war  the 
magnitude  or  the  duration  which  it  has  al- 
ready attained.  Neither  anticipated  that  the 
cause  of  the  conflict  might  cease  with,  or  even 
before,  the  conflict  itself  should  cease.  Each 
looked  for  an  easier  triumph,  and  a  result 
less  fundamental  and  astounding.  Both  read 
the  same  Bible,  and  pray  to  the  same  God; 
and  each  invokes  his  aid  against  the  other. 
It  may  seem  strange  that  any  men  should 
dare  to  ask  a  just  God's  assistance  in  wring- 
ing their  bread  from  the  sweat  of  other  men's 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  53 

^faces;  but  let  us  judge  not,  that  we  be  not 
judged.  The  prayers  of  both  could  not  be 
answered — that  of  neither  has  been  answered 
fully. 

^The  Almighty  has  his  own  purposes. 
Woe  unto  the  world  because  of  offenses!  for 
it  must  needs  be  that  offenses  come;  but  woe 
to  that  man  by  whom  the  offense  cometh.' 
If  we  shall  suppose  that  American  slavery  is 
one  of  those  offenses  which,  in  the  providence 
of  God,  must  needs  come,  but  which,  having 
continued  through  His  appointed  time,  he 
now  wills  to  remove,  and  that  he  gives  to 
both  North  and  South  this  terrible  war,  as 
the  woe  due  to  those  by  whom  the  offense 
came,  shall  we  discern  therein  any  departure 
from  those  divine  attributes  which  the  be- 
lievers in  a  living  God  always  ascribe  to  him? 
Fondly  do  we  hope — fervently  do  we  pray — 
that  this  mighty  scourge  of  war  may  speedily 
pass  away.  Yet,  if  God  wills,  that  it  continue 
until  all  the  wealth  piled  by  the  bondsman's 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  unrequited 
toil  shall  be  sunk,  and  until  every  drop  of 


54  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

blood  drawn  with  the  lash  shall  be  paid  by 
another  drawn  with  the  sword,  as  was  said 
three  thousand  years  ago,  so  still  it  must  be 
said,  The  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  true 
and  righteous  altogether.' 

^ With  malice  tow^ard  none ;  with  charity  for 
all ;  with  firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives 
us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to  finish 
the  work  we  are  in;  to  bind  up  the  nation's 
wounds;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have 
borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow,  and  his 
orphan — to  do  all  which  may  achieve  and 
cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among  our- 
selves, and  with  all  nations." 


The  foregoing  public  utterances  may  be 
called  the  American  Political  Classics.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  match  them  in  any  other 
language.  They  come  from  men  who  were 
pre-eminent  in  their  services  to  the  Constitu- 
tion. That  great  document  is  the  charter  of 
our  liberties.  Like  the  ten  commandments, 
it  is  as  true  today  as  it  was  when  written.    It 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  55 

was  not  a  discovery,  but  a  statement  of  truths 
which  had  gradually  dawned  upon  the  world 
during  the  lapse  of  ages.  It  was  the  logical 
result  of  Magna  Charta,  which  had  been  ex- 
torted from  King  John  five  hundred  and 
seventy  years  before. 

The  keynote  of  that  constitution  and  the 
government  which  was  organized  under  it,  is 
that  the  individual  shall  be  left  the  utmost 
liberty  of  personal  action  which  is  consistent 
with  the  safety  of  society.  The  sphere  of  the 
state  is  to  be  restricted  to  the  greatest  extent 
compatible  with  an  effective  government. 

Under  this  system  we  have  had  all  the 
liberty  of  the  primitive  man,  and  also  the  ad- 
vantages of  an  orderly  society.  The  Ameri- 
can has  developed  an  energy,  self-reliance, 
resourcefulness  and  power  of  prompt  organi- 
zation not  equaled  by  any  other  race.  We 
have  met  every  crisis  in  our  history,  and  have 
won  against  obstacles  which  would  have  been 
fatal  to  any  nation  except  our  Anglo-Saxon 
cousins.  The  last  world  war  was  brought  to 
a  triumphant  close;  but  it  was  not  by  our 


56  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

government,  but  by  the  American  People 
who  rose  as  one  man  to  prevent  the  success 
of  the  most  gigantic  criminal  conspiracy  in 
the  history  of  the  world.  Soldiers  drawn  by 
conscription  speedily  become  animated  by 
the  spirit  of  volunteers.  They  learned  in  six 
months  the  art  of  war  which  it  took  Euro- 
peans two  years  to  acquire.  Citizens  earn- 
ing salaries  of  thousands  gave  up  their  posi- 
tions to  serve  their  country  for  a  dollar  a 
year.  And  we  won.  This  all  came  from  the 
manly  independence  of  character  which  was 
developed  by  a  Constitution  which  gave 
every  man  an  opportunity  to  develop  along 
his  own  lines  and  make  the  most  of  himself. 
Such  a  constitution  is  worth  preserving. 
President  McKinley  said  of  it: 

"The  constitution  is  a  sacred  instrument 
and  a  sacred  trust.  It  is  given  to  us  to  see 
to  it  that  it  is  preserved  in  all  its  virtue  and 
vigor,  and  passed  on  to  generations  yet  to 
come." 

But  free  though  our  country  is,  and  excel- 
lent though  our  constitution,  both  have  ene- 


AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS  57 

mies.  We  are  too  strong  to  be  attacked  from 
without  if  we  keep  ourselves  in  a  reasonable 
state  of  preparation.  Our  enemies  are  among 
us.  They  are  men  who  have  come  here  to 
better  their  condition  and  not  from  a  love  of 
our  country;  men  who  hated  the  government 
which  they  left  because  they  had  suffered 
galling  tyranny,  and  who  do  not  realize  that 
they  need  not  fear  it  here.  It  was  the  bullet 
of  an  assassin  of  this  class  which  put  an  end 
to  the  life  of  McKinley.  Their  ranks  are 
swelled  by  many  among  us  who  have  failed 
in  life  because  of  their  own  deficiencies,  but 
blame  society  for  their  failure.  These  are 
our  enemies  within.  They  preach  the  gospel 
of  discontent  and  hatred  of  the  existing  order 
of  things.  By  revolution  and  the  bomb,  they 
would  overthrow  everything,  hoping  to  profit 
by  some  new  system  which  they  have  not 
worked  out,  even  in  their  own  minds.  They 
set  all  laws  at  defiance. 

The  rock  upon  which  our  country  is  found- 
ed is  the  law-abiding  spirit  of  the  people. 
As  the  people — by  their  representatives  in  the 


58  AMERICAN  POLITICAL  CLASSICS 

various  legislatures — make  the  laws,  the  peo- 
ple must  obey  them  until  they  shall  have  been 
lawfully  changed.  Otherwise  the  republic  is 
at  an  end.  So  said  Lincoln.  To  use  the 
words  of  Washington:  ^The  basis  of  our 
political  systems  is  the  right  of  the  people  to 
make  and  to  alter  their  constitutions  of  gov- 
ernment But  the  constitution  which  at  any 
time  exists,  till  changed  by  the  explicit  and 
authentic  act  of  the  whole  people,  is  sacredly 
obligatory  upon  all.  The  very  idea  of  the 
power  and  the  right  of  the  people  to  establish 
governments  presupposes  the  duty  of  every 
individual  to  obey  the  established  govern- 
ment." 

The  reason  why  Mexico  is  now,  and  will 
long  remain  in  a  state  of  anarchy,  is  because 
no  one  feels  bound  to  obey  the  law  if  it  be 
in  any  way  inconvenient  to  him.  The  same 
is  true  of  the  countries  to  the  south  of  that 
unhappy  land.  The  governments  of  all  of 
them  are  as  unstable  as  the  sands.  Ours  has 
always  shown  a  gratifying  contrast,  because 
our  people  have  always  been  self-restrained 


AMERICAN  PCLITIGAL  CLASSiCS  '         59 

by  this  law-abiding  sentiment.  If  Mexico 
could  be  converted  to  that  state  of  feeling, 
she  would  have  a  sound  and  safe  government 
and  a  happy  people  within  a  year.  There- 
fore, let  us  obey  the  law,  because  it  is  the  law, 
because  we  have  too  much  self-respect  to  be 
law-breakers.  Let  us  put  down  firmly  every 
man,  every  organization  and  every  party 
which  preaches  any  other  doctrine.  Let  us 
insist  that  the  ballot  box  be  the  sole  method 
of  settling  disputes.  The  American  people 
are  honest  and  just;  and  every  well-founded 
grievance  is  sure  to  be  remedied  in  the  end. 
So  shall  our  beloved  country  be  preserved 
and  move  onward  in  its  course  until  our  des- 
tiny shall  be  reached  and  won  and  made 
secure. 


THE  END 


I 


rB   12739 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


